the stronger a swimmer you are, the more comfortable you feel in the water
Does anyone have any facts to back up this statement?
I have contended the "strong swimmer" vs. "non-swimmer" argument is stupid AND, more importantly, the wrong issue. The important issue, in my always and ever so humble opinion, is "comfort in the water." It seems that the "strong swimmer" contingent equates "water comfort" with "swimming ability" as if those are the only options. Me, I think that is just so much BS -- although it is truly, and merely, my opinion as I have absolutely no evidence to support one position or another. (And, I suspect, no one else does either!)
I do NOT know the definition of a "strong swimmer." In one of my classes, we had a swim test and much to the disgust of my two classmates, I beat them all hollow. One, 30 years younger and quite buff, struggled through the test (but he could have struggled for a long time) and the other, a former military diver, also struggled (and he could have struggled for a long time). The issue was that neither of them had terribly efficient strokes -- they just used strength and power to get through the water. Me, having been raised on (and in) the water (dad was a former college swim coach and college/national competitor) I was just much more efficient.
BUT WE WERE ALL COMFORTABLE IN THE WATER and could stay in, on, or under the water for hours at a time.
The key to this doesn't appear to be swimming ability but MENTAL COMFORT. I contend that someone who can float on the surface for half an hour while discussing politics, even though all they could do is a dog paddle, would be just fine -- and a whole lot more "comfortable" than someone who, through mental determination, learned the strokes and powered through whatever swim test you wanted to design.
But I don't have any evidence this is true.